Doubts over whether India can achieve the solar power capacity addition target for the current financial year seem to be strengthening.
According to media reports, the president of Solar Energy Equipment Manufacturers Association of Telangana (SEEMAT) and chairman of Premier Solar Systems – a manufacturer of solar panels in India recently stated that the cumulative installed solar power capacity in the country will reach 15 GW by the end of the current financial year i.e., 31 March 2017.
This would mean an addition of around 8 GW between the period of April 2016 and March 2017. This addition, if achieved, will be a third less than the targeted capacity addition of 12 GW announced by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Interestingly, however, no one seems to be bothered by this fact with SEEMAT claiming that this will be in-line with the government’s plan to have 100 GW installed solar power capacity by March 2022.
Last month, an Indian ratings agency also stated similar capacity addition numbers for the current financial year. CARE Ratings claimed that only 5.2 GW of solar power capacity is expected to be added between April 2016 and March 2017. Again, the report issued by CARE does not voiced any concerns. The report itself mentions that an increasing number of states have come out with the aggressive solar power policies and targets.
The CARE report further states that an estimated 8 GW capacity will be added during the next financial year of 2017-18. This, again, would be a massive reduction compared to the annual capacity addition targets announced by the Indian government.
The Indian government has set a target for 100 GW installed solar power capacity by March 2022. To achieve this, the government plans to add 15-17 GW every year starting 2017-18, hoping that the installed capacity at the beginning of the fiscal year would be around 19 GW.